What species of duck/geese do you think tastes the best?

[alberta boy]

My favourites are Mallard , Canvasbacks and Pintails for ducks , I'll throw in teal , but it's a lot of work for a small bird . I really like Specklebelly geese , Snows and Canadas not so much . Some people shoot Sandhill Cranes and swear it's the best out of all of them , the Rib eye of the sky . Personally , I can't bring myself to shoot them , but I do love hearing them in the Spring .

AB

 

[Overlay]

early mallard, Teal and greylag, won’t be eating any canada’s it’s better to roast a canada and house brick in a hot oven for four hours, turn off the heat sling the canada and eat the house brick

 

[Basil H]

Overlay, the daft tale about the brick has been around for years and it is nonsense.

 

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

Teal for me tastes the best

Always seems like russian roulette with geese or duck atleast around here.

Being close to the humber they either taste great or taste like mud.

Also for some strange reason when you open them us they absolutely stink of said mud.

 

[Basil H]

Some of the comments here baffle me. A pinkfoot in East Yorks will probably have fed on either sugarbeet tops or the classic "winter wheat on a tattie bottom".
Why would it taste or smell of mud because it lives near the Humber ? I have eaten grey geese taken from the northern firths right down to Suffolk, including the Humber, and they are all pretty similar with skilled cooking.
Mind you, I make the point about odd flavour in ducks in post 38.

 

[paul o']

#24 on the menu with plumb sauce and hot pancakes! none better

Not shoveler.

I am still embarassed to own up to the fact that I shot the only shoveler ever seen on the pond that we flight.

It was dark, I shot it, we picked it, I ate it.

I regretted shooting the poor thing, and I certainly regretted eating it.

Never mind mty your not alone! even in daylight some well known members from another forum can't tell Brent from honkers ! even when your screaming at them to stop they still shot them !!!! so if bird shooting club/forum member's can't tell them apart then there's no hope ! BRREEENNTTTT YOU Cu**tss !!! I seem to remember shouting

 

[Quadman]

early mallard, Teal and greylag, won’t be eating any canada’s it’s better to roast a canada and house brick in a hot oven for four hours, turn off the heat sling the canada and eat the house brick

Hello mate , I like my mallard, but made me smile when I was in my teens I went feeding cattle with my farther and 5 Canada,s had hit the wires , so he brought one home and my cousin had the rest , we had it for Sunday dinner and it was as tuff as old boots, my mother moooooned about it for days , all the prep and cooking etc, Happy memory's

 

[Overlay]

Hello mate , I like my mallard, but made me smile when I was in my teens I went feeding cattle with my farther and 5 Canada,s had hit the wires , so he brought one home and my cousin had the rest , we had it for Sunday dinner and it was as tuff as old boots, my mother moooooned about it for days , all the prep and cooking etc, Happy memory's

i remember on one occasion we had roast canada due to having guests around that’s what they wanted wild goose. all went well leftover feed to the 3 labs - 1-2 hours later the labs stunk the house out big time from memory we sat outside the rest of the day. man it was seriously bad.
nothing like living and learning

 

[andrew_shooter53]

Teal

best of all ducks, similar to woodcock

 

[andrew_shooter53]

the big white ones can’t remember the name .

swans

 

[JTO]

swans

Only if they have only been in fresh water, never in salt water.

 

[levigsp]

Are you sure? protected in 1981? Cheers

The species that can be shot during their open season are (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981):

Duck
Gadwall	Goldeneye	Mallard	Pintail	Pochard
Shoveler	Teal	Tufted Duck	Wigeon

 

[User00036]

The species that can be shot during their open season are (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981):

Duck
Gadwall	Goldeneye	Mallard	Pintail	Pochard
Shoveler	Teal	Tufted Duck	Wigeon

Alas all those years of guilt that I harboured, only made worse by the fact I have missed out on such epicurean delights for so long. I hang my head in shame.

 

[camodog]

Species is important but so is diet.

We shoot some species that you can’t, such as tundra swans. Early in the season they are eating aquatic life and taste like diving or sea ducks. Very hard to make them palatable. Three months later they have migrated 2000 miles and are on grain fields and are quite good if your shoot a young (grey) one.

As a general rule I class them like this - from worst to best
Sea ducks(shellfish in a summer bin for a week) then divers (pochards you would say) then teal/wigeon followed by large grain fed puddlers ( Mallard and Pintails).
Favorite way to eat a perfect mallard or pintail is to pluck then breast out as one piece. Marinate in cranberry juice for a few hours, then season. Put the meat side onto a hot grill to quickly sear, the slip a piece of fatty bacon in there and close it up with a tooth pick. Crisp the skin on both side on the same hot grill, serve pink in the center with a brown gravy with copious garlic.

For geese, we usually put snow geese at the bottom. Not truly fair, as a young snow is quite good, but old birds can be very old (they live up,to 20 years). Then canadas (and I think Greylags are equivalent - at least the ones I’ve eat ) followed by whitefronts (in my opinion pinks are about the same) .

For older tougher geese I will either serve as a kabob, after overnight marinade in pineapple and canned tomato + jalapeño. Season with a Greek style seasoning, then kabob with whatever else you like (petite potatoes, mushrooms, pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes). Drizzle all with olive oil and grill

For younger birds I either roast as a proper plucked bird, smoke, or if shot (or if I don’t feel like plucking) I’ll breast out and season with Mexican spices then grill before serving with sautéed onions and peppers as Fajitas on tortillas, with some fresh pico de gallo to accompany

Good Morning 'CM'.
I would be interested to hear if over there you have any incidence of what's known over here as 'rice-breast', predominantly in ducks, but not exclusively so ? I refer you to a 'thread' in 'Disease, Welfare & Biology under 'Mallard Breast'. In a way relevant to 'what's best to eat....or not' ? I posted a reply in said 'thread' you may care to read.

Kind Regards,

'Camodog'.

 

[Puds]

I had a roasted teal for dinner, seared in the cast iron frying pan with salted butter followed by 15mins in the oven, and served with a port & cranberry sauce (made from deglazing what was left over in the pan after roasting). Absolutely sublime.

 

[Sol]

It seems like the general consensus is that Canada Geese is not well enjoyed here in the UK I assume there diets are drastically different compared to the USA/Canada however has anyone ever tried the Goose Pastrami from Meat Eaters? I would assume the flavour would change quite a bit.

It also seems like smoking meats arent nearly as common here what I would bet would benefit a lot of these species.

 

[HonestJohn]

Robins and Swans, hands down

 

[shakey jake]

ive eaten loads of canadas, i think most peoples dislike is down to believing rumours or expecting farmed goose taste.

 

[Bowland blades]

It seems like the general consensus is that Canada Geese is not well enjoyed here in the UK I assume there diets are drastically different compared to the USA/Canada however has anyone ever tried the Goose Pastrami from Meat Eaters? I would assume the flavour would change quite a bit.

It also seems like smoking meats arent nearly as common here what I would bet would benefit a lot of these species.

|Canadas are fine if you shoot them feeding on clean grass , wheat, foreshore etc . problem is when they are feeding on sewage etc . a bird is what it eats !